Disney plans to leave the Centennial Renard Lot in Century City by the end of the year

Two of the most famous brands of Entertainment, Fox and Disney, separate from Century City.

Walt Disney Co. admitted Tuesday that he would leave the lot of Fox Studio, where he was the main occupant since Disney bought most of Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment assets at 21st Century Fox in 2019. The 71.3 billion dollars agreement did not include real estate in the studio. However, he presented a provision according to which Disney would move as a tenant for at least seven years.

The Disney lease for space on the Pico boulevard de Fox property in Los Angeles expires next March.

The company does not intend to renew its lease and rather plans to leave by the end of the year, said the Disney initiates who were not allowed to speak publicly.

This decision exerts pressure on the owner Fox Corp. To find new tenants for sound internships and offices where movies and television programs have been made for generations. The famous films that have been brought there include “Miracle On 34th Street”, “The Seven Year Itch” and “The Sound of Music”. The lot also houses Fox Sports, the Fox Broadcast Network and the Writers’ Salle for “The Simpsons”.

Fox receives $ 50 million per year to rent the space, according to regulatory documents.

Disney is the largest tenant, but Fox leaders say they are optimistic to find new occupants.

“The Fox lot is unparalleled in terms of location and production and post-production installations of available premiums,” Fox said in a statement on Tuesday.

Disney has gradually lost its Fox DNA since the agreement. In 2020, Disney withdrew the “Fox” brand from the logos and assets that he acquired from Fox to minimize confusion with the properties that are part of the Murdoch Empire, including Fox News.

Since the acquisition, dozens of television leaders and FX Network managers have stayed in their longtime offices on the Lot – a popular advantage for those who live on the Los Angeles WestSide, allowing them to keep their travel shorter.

Over the past six years, Fox’s Building 103, in the southeast corner of the Lot, has been a Disney outpost.

But Disney spent the year last year to move teams in Burbank, where Disney has its own historic studio field and an adjacent complex that houses ABC and Disney Animation.

Disney’s objective is to bring together a creative hub for its television groups, including the leaders who had remained on the Fox lot, according to competent people who were not allowed to comment.

The company refused to comment on its plans for television productions belonging to Disney which remain on the Fox lot, including the dramas “9-1-1” and “9-1-1: Lone Star”, produced by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear.

The first contours of the Disney -Fox transaction – orchestrated by the Disney Director of Disney, Bob Iger and Murdoch – had envisaged the Century City complex as one of the assets included in the sale in Disney.

But the eldest son of Murdoch, Lachlan, who is managing director of Fox, insisted that his company retains the main property where Shirley Temple, Marilyn Monroe and Mel Brooks worked for formerly. (The founder of Studio, William Fox, bought 99 acres of land between Santa Monica Boulevard and Pico Boulevard 101 years ago. Fox, after having made a financial blow on the 1963 “Cleopatra” film, sold a large part of his backlot, which is now a large part of Century City.)

Lachlan Murdoch, whose office is in the building of the artistic administration, saw the batch of Renard as part of the beating heart of his business. He also recognized the value of the sound courses and auxiliary production facilities, which were in great demand during the spring of production to support the launch of several streaming services.

However, production in Los Angeles has not recovered from the strikes of writers and actors of 2023, and many shoots were attracted to other states and countries with generous tax incentives.

The change comes as Fox has requested the city’s approval for an expansion of $ 1.5 billion in its location of Century City, a project planned to add more than 2 million square feet of new construction space, including several new stars, postproduction facilities and a new office building facing the Avenue des étoiles.

As part of this redevelopment, four historic bungalows near the center of the lot should be moved to another place closer to the Olympic boulevard.

Disney’s departure will not give rise to Fox’s ambitious plans for its expansion of Century City, according to a framework that was not authorized to speak publicly. The Fox project is in the preliminary approval phase with the city.

Disney picked up precious franchises thanks to the acquisition of Fox, notably “Avatar”, “Alien” and “X-Men” and “Deadpool” by Marvel and “Deadpool”. Disney has also taken control of the Hulu streaming service, which maintains its attachment base in Santa Monica.

However, some analysts and investors say that Disney has paid a lot for the properties, which put the Burbank entertainment giant in a weakened position when the Pandemic Covid-19 struck in 2020.

This spring, Disney has taken an additional debt after its theme parks closed, the cinemas closed the sports leagues entitled Time Out.

Disney has sought to reduce costs over the past two years.